Summer Camp for Supernatural Delinquents
by poppyblueee
Summary: ON HIATUS INDEFINITELY. AU BONKAI. Bonnie Bennett didn't mean to light her best friend's boyfriend on fire. One minute she was thinking about how damn annoying he was, and the next minute he was aflame. Now she's stuck at summer camp with evil facilitators, cliquey witches, bitchy vampires, dumb werewolves... and a mischievous warlock who won't leave her alone.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I got the idea for this and I just had to write it out. But I'm letting you guys know that if you're keen on this story, you should probably just follow it in order to get eventual updates, because I don't think I'll be updating it very much until I'm done with my other story ('Intuition, Twice Shy')! All the same, I hope this appeals to you :) xoxoxox**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

Dear Miss Bennett,

It has come to our attention that you have been involved in some questionable supernatural activity this school year.

As such, your parent/guardian, Mr. Rudy Hopkins, has elected to enroll you in the Original Summer Camp program here at the Mikaelson School for Supernatural Delinquents.

We understand that this might be a trying time for you, but we hope that you will attend our camp with an open mind, and we trust that you will leave with a truly valuable experience.

Please find attached further details as well as a recommended packing list.

Thank you, and we hope to see you soon.

 _Opsequium est necessarium._

 _Compliance is key._

Sincerely,

Elijah Mikaelson

Head of Administration

* * *

It had taken place in the five-minute gap between second and third period on the second-to-last Friday of junior year.

"Elena, wait. Don't walk away from this."

Another day, another fight, another passionate declaration of codependence.

Oops. _Love_ , not codependence.

"Leave me alone, Damon."

Yes, please _, for the love of God_ , do us all a favour and leave her alone, I thought.

"No, Elena, I can't leave you alone. I won't do it. I need you in my life."

 _Did he, though?_ I had wondered. I would never have uttered a word to Elena, but I was pretty damn sure the two of them were way better off without each other.

"I can't do this right now, Damon. You're not stable. I can't be your only emotional anchor."

The sole difference between this and a soap opera was that you could actually switch off the stupid television and walk away from a soap opera.

I fidgeted, checking the time on my phone.

Three minutes.

Not that it mattered. Mr. Saltzman was a pretty chill dude. He let us call him Ric off school-hours. Well, he _was_ Elena's sort-of uncle. That helped.

"Could they be any more dramatic?" Caroline stood next to me, whispering into my ear.

 _You're one to talk_ , I thought, recalling the colossal argument Caroline had had with Matt in the cafeteria just two days ago. It had been so petty; I found it hard to remember what the whole thing had even been about.

"I was planning on getting to class early so I could pitch my History Ball idea for next year to Ric – I mean, Mr. Saltzman," Caroline continued.

I tried to tone down the level of incredulity in the look I was sending Caroline. What the hell was a _History Ball_? Leave it to Caroline to come up with the most trivial reasons to throw a party.

"Elena, can't you see? You make me a better person. I need you as my emotional anchor."

 _Ok_ , I thought irritably, _this is getting really old really fast_. What kind of illogical, circular reasoning was that, anyway?

Elena heaved a theatrical sigh, already drawing closer to Damon, giving in to him.

Damon kissed her once, twice, and then proceeded to singlehandedly attempt a full-blown make-out session.

Elena pulled away from him, though, glancing over to me.

Caroline had conveniently disappeared by then, ditching both Elena and me.

"Sorry, Bon, I know we're already late," said Elena.

Damon threw a callous glance in my direction. "Ignore her."

Strike one.

I pressed my lips together into a tight, unimpressed line.

"She's already judging us with her beady little witchy eyes. I can feel it."

Strike two.

My hands balled into fists.

"Run along, Bon Bon, we're trying to have some fun here. You're kind of cramping the mood."

Strike three.

I blinked hard.

He went up in flames.

* * *

"Bonnie, you've got to get your magic under control."

I sat in Ric's classroom after school had ended, sullenly contemplating what I'd unintentionally done.

On the one hand, Ric was right. I'd been failing time and time again to get a proper grasp of my magic ever since I'd stumbled upon my witchy inheritance. It wasn't just fire, either. If ever I spontaneously burst into tears in my room, the entire street would end up with a power outage. And when I was happy, things tended to levitate around me.

But on the other hand, _hell yes_ , I'd set Damon on fire. He deserved every third-degree burn that I'd given him, which had automatically healed anyway.

Stupid vampire benefits.

"If it had been anyone other than me who'd found you guys, we'd have needed to get someone to compel them. You're lucky you were late and the corridors were empty. And that I spotted you first," he continued.

Regardless, it brought me great joy to consider how he must've been nursing his wounded ego at that very moment.

"I'm going to have to talk to your dad about this," said Ric, tearing me from my fantasies of inflicting further harm on Damon.

"What?" I looked up, aghast. "No, you can't. He's going to kill me."

"Bonnie..." Ric shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, but I really don't have a choice. You need to figure out how to control your magic."

"I can do it myself," I said. "I'll work harder on it, I promise."

"That's what you said the last time..."

I stared sadly down my hands, clasped tightly on my lap. "I wish Grams were still alive. She'd know what to do."

"I know," Ric said, reaching forward to pat my shoulder comfortingly. "But we've got to do the best with what we've got."

He didn't understand, but I didn't tell him that. He didn't understand how my father hated anything that had to do with the supernatural. He hadn't even liked me hanging around Grams. Dad just wasn't warm or caring like Grams had been. He wouldn't be so sympathetic.

But nothing I could have said would have mattered, anyway.

"Alright," I replied reluctantly.

* * *

"Bonnie!" Elena ran up to me the second I'd stepped out into the school courtyard. "Is everything ok?"

I gazed quietly upon the face of my best friend. As obtuse as Elena could be, she had a huge heart; and within it, she never could find the will to hold anything against anyone.

"Yeah," I said with a feeble smile. "He's going to tell my dad, though."

"Oh, Bon, I'm so sorry." Her face crumpled in worry for me.

"I'm really sorry, Elena, about... you know," I murmured, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"Don't worry about it, Bon," she replied with an easy smile. "Damon was being mean to you. And I know you didn't do it on purpose."

I mulled over the irony of her last statement as we strolled out to the parking lot together.

Even if I _could_ have had a do over, I probably would have set Damon on fire anyway.

"What do you think your dad will do?" Elena asked me.

"I don't know," I said. "If I'm lucky, he'll send me to live with Lucy over the summer to practice my magic."

"And if you're not?"

I had no idea.

* * *

The last week of junior year passed by in a flurry and without incident.

I knew Ric had spoken to my dad, but my dad had yet to say a word to me. Honestly, it freaked me out even more because I felt like I had a forthcoming punishment hanging over my head like a rain cloud.

And sure enough, I did.

"Bonnie," he called me into his study on the first evening of summer.

The sun had only just begun to wane due to the lengthened daylight hours, and it had been growing steadily warmer over the past couple of weeks.

I lingered uneasily in the doorway, the setting sun from the window casting my shadow on the floor in a long, skinny strip.

 _Hoo, boy, here it comes,_ I thought.

But instead, he just held out a letter to me without looking up from his paperwork. "Don't hover," he said mildly. "And take this."

"What is it?" I asked, accepting it from him.

"Read it."

I did.

Then I let it slip from from my hands.

* * *

"I can't believe you're not going to be around all summer long," Caroline whined, sitting on my bed as I packed clothes into my duffel bag.

 _Shorts, shorts, shorts, t-shirt, t-shirt, t-shirt._

"I know," I sighed.

"I can't believe he's sending you to a camp for _juvenile delinquents_ ," Elena stressed.

"I know," I sighed again.

"And not just any camp for juvenile delinquents," said Caroline, "but the _Mikaelson_ family one."

"That place gives me the creeps," Elena agreed.

"Thanks for the encouraging words," I snapped at both of them.

They exchanged guilty glances.

We'd all heard of the infamous Mikaelson School for Supernatural Delinquents. It was a massive, sprawling campus, a few hours out of Mystic Falls, with a separate piece of land isolated just for the summer camp program.

It functioned like a normal school, except, as its name suggested, it enrolled only the basest supernatural delinquents – basically supernaturals who had the propensity to misbehave in terrible ways, however that might be.

Every summer, however, it opened up its camp program to less juvenile applicants who might only require brief disciplinary courses.

I guess I was going to be one of them now.

I didn't really know anyone who had gone to school or summer camp at the Mikaelsons' and returned to tell stories of what it had been like.

The closest connection anyone ever had to it was Matt Donovan, Caroline's current fling. He'd been best buds with Tyler Lockwood, the kid who'd turned into a werewolf at the start of the school year. Tyler had had major anger management issues since then and his mum had had no choice but to send him away to the Mikaelson School.

But we hadn't heard hide nor hair from Tyler since he'd left. It was almost like he'd vanished entirely off the radar.

I wondered if Matt was still in touch with him. I made a mental note to ask him about it before the weekend ended.

"Maybe you should run away," Caroline said seriously.

"Yeah." I snorted. "With no degree, no money and nowhere to live. I wouldn't last a week." I jammed a couple of toothbrushes into my bag.

It wasn't so much the delinquency brand of the school that upset me. It was the fact that my dad had banished me to _reform_ school without understanding that what I needed was proper magical guidance – not _discipline_.

I wasn't a problem child with a major behavioural problem that needed fixing. I was a witch who didn't know how to control her magic. I needed a teacher.

Once again, I found myself wishing Grams were still alive. So, so badly.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Bonnie," Elena said.

"Me too," Caroline chimed in.

"I'll miss you both too," I mumbled, feeling downtrodden.

And I would. They were all too crazy about boys, parties and _themselves_ , but I'd grown up with them and we knew one another so well and we'd never spent a single summer apart in so many years.

It just wouldn't be the same.

* * *

"Hey, Bonnie, what's up?" Matt's voice sounded crinkly over the phone.

"Caroline's probably mentioned where I'm going over the summer," I started.

"Yeah," replied Matt. "It won't be so bad, Bon. You'll probably get to see Tyler. Say hi to him for me, won't you?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Have you actually spoken to Tyler since he left?"

"A couple of times, actually. He's doing good, Bon. He's learning to get it all under control. I know you're not entirely sold on the place, but... Tyler actually likes it there. I don't know, maybe it could help with your... with your witchy issues."

I was simultaneously skeptical and hopeful, somehow. What if it was only helpful to werewolves? They needed more control and discipline than witches, after all.

I imagined being forced to run around a large track fifty times, and shuddered. I could see how Tyler might benefit from something like that, but certainly not me?

Maybe I was jumping to conclusions? Maybe each supernatural species had a different program to follow?

"You ok, Bonnie?"

I jerked back into the present. "Yeah, sorry. Zoned out for a minute. Thanks Matt. I'll be sure to say hi to Tyler for you."

* * *

My dad drove me out to the school early Monday morning.

We flew past more greenery than one might ever hope to see in Mystic Falls. There were trees in all different shades of green – emerald, basil, pear, juniper. And the sky above us was cloudless, a single, magnificent shade of blue, stretched out from here to infinity.

We'd rolled the windows down, and the warm summer breeze filtered in, sliding over my skin and throwing back my hair.

The trees thinned out into a large clearing, and an intimidatingly large stone castle came into view eventually – rows and rows of charcoal blocks stacked to the sky, erect upon an endless grassy lawn.

That was the school itself, I figured.

My dad circled the castle, giving it wide berth. He drove a little further out, where the greenery began to emerge again, and soon pulled into the parking lot of a classic summer camp layout.

 _Wood, wood, wood_ , I thought straightaway.

Wooden houses, wooden obstacle courses, wooden platforms, open wooden-floored courts, all leading off to a dense forest in the distance.

I hoped they wouldn't make us go _camping_. We were already sort of camping. Wasn't that bad enough?

I sighed miserably, reluctant to get out of the car.

"You'll have to head over to the general office to sign in. It should be next to the central court, over there." My dad pointed somewhere to my right.

I nodded without speaking.

"This is for your own good, Bonnie. I hope you realize that."

I nodded again, mechanically. "Bye, dad." I got out of the car, hauling my bag out with me.

I watched him pull out of the parking lot and drive off, until he was a mere speck in the distance.

Then I heaved a huge sigh and turned back to the campsite.

The general office was easy enough to find. A bell over the door chimed loudly when I walked in, and a plump, cheery-faced woman greeted me behind her desk.

 _Mary-Alice Adams_ , her nametag read.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"Uh, my name is Bonnie Bennett, and I'm here to sign in."

"Oh, yes, of course. Bonnie Bennett, you said? I'll go fetch your file, dear." She disappeared through a door behind her. It whistled as it flew shut.

I leaned against the counter for a while, glancing at the neatly stacked pile of paper and the computer perched on top of her desk.

Then I glanced around the tiny office, taking a few steps back to examine the noticeboard on the far right hand side of the office.

 _Ice-Breaker Bonfire Night_ , one of the posters read. _Grab some marshmallows with your new good fellows!_

I rolled my eyes.

The bell chimed loudly once more, as the main door to the general office swung open again.

I turned around, a little startled.

In pranced a girl with wild, blonde curls and a mean smile. She was wearing tiny denim shorts and a black t-shirt with the words "Spell You Later" printed on it in a golden cursive scrawl.

 _She's a witch_ , I deduced.

She stopped short when she saw me, glancing from the top of my short, curled hair to the tip of my worn black sneakers. I felt like she was sizing me up, and she probably was.

She made eye-contact then, pacing forward and knocking shoulders with me as she crossed out in front of me.

I rubbed my arm nervously.

"You're new," she said.

I cracked a pained smile. "Hi," I said, trying to sound neither too glum nor annoyed. "I'm B-"

"Yeah I know who you are," she interrupted me obnoxiously. "You're the Bennett witch."

I furrowed my eyebrows in bewilderment. Was I already famous?

"We've never had a Bennett witch enroll here before," she continued.

 _Well, yeah_ , I thought. Aside from me, the only other living Bennett witch – that I knew of, anyway – was my cousin Lucy. And Lucy was miles away.

"So who are _you_?" I asked.

She stared at me a fair while before replying. "Liv." She crossed her arms out in front of her and raised an eyebrow at me as if I was going to challenge her identity.

"What coven?"

"You'll find out," she said elusively.

I blinked at her, mildly exasperated.

She turned her back on me then, walking around the reception desk to pull open the bottom drawer and rifle through it.

"Are you supposed to be doing that?" I asked.

"Relax," she said condescendingly. "I do this all the time."

That didn't exactly answer my question.

She seemed to find whatever she was looking for, snatching it up and shutting the drawer.

I couldn't make out what it was. It was enclosed tightly in her fist.

She strolled past me casually, stopping to turn her head slightly in my direction. "Welcome to hell, by the way. I'll catch you later, witchbitch."

The bell above the door chimed with her exit.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:**

 **Due to popular demand, I'm going to be updating this as regularly as I can alongside 'Intuition, Twice Shy'. ;) Love you guys so much, thank you for the reviews, and I'm so glad you're as excited about this story as I am!**

 **Shoney – yes Elena and Caroline are vampires!**

 **FYI: you'll find that I introduce a lot of really minor characters from old seasons of TVD and The Originals as well (like various witches, werewolves, etc) just to keep everyone within the TVD universe. You don't need to know or remember them, though. :)**

 **Also: for the purposes of this story, Katherine and Elena look alike but not identical.**

 **Sorry if this chapter is a little boring. It's meant to set things up. xxx**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

"Holy smokes. _You're_ the Bennett witch! This is so cool. I'm so excited! I can't believe I finally get to meet a _Bennett witch_..." The girl across from me trilled endlessly on and on.

Mary-Alice from the general office had gotten her to show me to my dorm room.

Apparently we were rooming together.

"I'm Bonnie," I said, partly to shut her up and partly so people would stop referring to me as 'the Bennett witch'.

It sounded ominous, and I was far from ominous. Unless you counted my ability to accidentally-on-purpose set people on fire.

I mean, it had been accidental, but... it also had to have come out of some pocket of repressed desires in my subconscious mind, right?

"Bonnie! That is such a cute name. Bonnie Bennett. So perfect!"

Seriously? What was this obsession with me? And what was so special about being a Bennett witch?

I sighed. "And you are...?"

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Cassie, one of the Harvest witches."

I threw her a stealthy side-glance as we turned a corner after the general office and strolled down a dusty dirt path lined with identical wooden mini-houses.

She had ebony hair cropped into a pixie-cut, and equally pixie-like features. She wasn't much taller than me either.

 _A Harvest witch_ , I mused internally, _a coven within a coven_. Now that was a much bigger deal than being a Bennett witch, I felt.

Harvest witches were a part of the French Quarter coven in New Orleans. They only came about every 300 years or so, when they were methodically selected as sacrifices to their ancestral spirits, in a cult ritual that was said to renew the lease of magic granted to all French Quarter witches.

Harvest witches were killed for the ritual, but resurrected once it was over, in a ceremony known as the Reaping.

It was all basically creepy as hell.

"You're a long way from home, Cassie," I said, hoping that she might explain what she was doing at a camp for delinquents.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm guessing you've heard of the Harvest ritual. The Elders feel that getting resurrected from the dead potentially drives people bat-crazy. And the Mikaelsons are... efficient. So they've sent all of us here."

Delinquent school, miles from home, as a _precautionary measure_? Harsh.

I didn't say anything. What could I have said that wouldn't have been awkward or rude? _So, what's it like to be tricked into have your throat slit and then magically come back to life?_

As it turned out, I needn't have bothered about keeping the conversation going because Cassie managed that all by herself. "Davina would love to meet you. She's so fascinated by the Bennett line. But who isn't, really? There's just so much magical history behind it, and it's the one line that has collaborated on huge spells with almost all other covens, you know?"

No, I didn't know. But I really wanted to!

Dad had hidden the Bennett grimoire from me after Grams' death, and I'd never had a chance to look through it. Sucked for him now, though, because I'd stolen it right before coming to camp.

Served him right for sentencing me to magical juvie all summer.

We stopped in front of one of the wooden mini-houses, and walked up the few front steps leading to the door.

"It's not much," said Cassie, gesturing to the house in general, "but it's cozy. And there's a rumour going around that one of the camp activities involves us repainting these! I was thinking something bright and cheerful, like orange or pink."

I hid my grimace.

Cassie reached into her pocket for a key, and unlocked the door.

I took a wary step inside.

It was dimly lit and cramped. A short, wooden staircase cut through the middle of the room, leading up to a loft secured by sturdy railings. There were two beds on each level, one on either side of the stairway.

"You kind of arrived a little late, so... The other girls have already picked their beds. You can switch with me if you want, though!" Cassie offered apologetically.

"Well, which one's empty?"

She pointed to a bed up on the loft, left of the stairway. Then she pointed to the other bed on the loft. "That one's mine. I volunteered to go up there because if you aren't short enough, then you'd keep bumping your head on the ceiling. The other girls are taller than us."

I was certainly short enough. "It's fine."

We ascended the stairs. I dragged my feet over to my bed, dumping my bag on the ground next to it and collapsing atop the standard light blue sheets.

I tilted my head to the side. There was a nightstand and a tiny chest of drawers next to the bed.

Somehow, that depressed me – like it had really begun to sink in, just how long I'd be stuck here. _All summer_. Long enough that I'd have to take stuff out of my bag and pack them into drawers.

Voices drifted in from outside.

I forced myself upright and peered through the window next to my bed.

There were two girls loitering around the back of our dorm house. One had straight, black hair, and the other... was _Liv_.

"Stay out of it!" I heard Liv yell at the first girl, before she stormed off.

The other girl stared at the ground for a while, shaking her head slightly then leaving.

"That's Jo and Liv," said Cassie, coming to stand behind me. "They're sisters and they fight all the time."

I mulled it over thoughtfully. "What do you know about Liv?"

"Liv fancies herself a bit of a rebel. Davina doesn't like her, so neither do the rest of us."

"You don't like her because Davina doesn't like her?" I asked skeptically.

Just who was this Davina girl?

"Davina's really smart," gushed Cassie. "She always knows what's up, and she's been on the outs with Liv since forever. Trust me, you don't really want to get caught up with Liv. She's bad news."

What was that saying, again? You know, the one where you'd be more inclined to do something if someone told you not to do it?

"What coven is she in?" I asked. Maybe I'd get a straight answer this time.

"Gemini."

I frowned.

I'd only ever vaguely heard of the Gemini coven. All I knew was that there were multiple pairs of twins in each of their families, and the eldest twins had to 'merge' when they were of age. I didn't know what that meant though.

A loud, clanging noise echoed throughout the entire camp, interrupting my thoughts.

"Come on," said Cassie. "That's the lunch bell. I'll show you to the canteen."

* * *

The canteen was an open, airy space scattered with numerous picnic benches. There was a line near the front, where people slid their trays down a long countertop and lunch-ladies piled food on them.

Today's lunch was lasagna, a salad and sparkly apple-juice.

Once we were armed with trays, Cassie began to walk me somewhere. "Davina's over there. You can sit with us!"

I glanced over to see a tanned girl with chocolate locks waving us over. There were a couple of girls seated around her.

And then someone stepped into my line of vision.

"Tyler!" I exclaimed, relieved to see a somewhat familiar face.

"Hey, Bonnie," said Tyler, looking surprised and happy. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," I replied, noting how Cassie now stood off to the side, fidgeting nervously.

"Hey, why don't you come sit with me? It'd be great to catch up," Tyler offered.

I leaped at the opportunity to escape an awkward and unwanted clique induction with Davina and her girls. "Sorry, Cassie," I said to her. "Tyler's my friend from high school and I haven't seen him in so long. I'll sit with you next time, maybe?"

"Yeah sure," said Cassie, nodding her head disappointedly.

I turned to follow Tyler, weaving through more people until we reached a table.

I assumed immediately that they were all werewolves, judging from the bulk of the bodies on the guys, and the aggravated expression on the only girl's face.

"Mason, Jackson, Hayley," Tyler introduced each of them to me. "This is Bonnie Bennett."

I winced. I wished he hadn't said my last name. I was getting tired of it already.

"Hi," said Mason cheerfully. "I think I've seen you before."

Mason Lockwood was Tyler's cousin. I guess I had met him back in Mystic Falls, though I couldn't really remember what he'd looked like.

"Oh, you must be my new roommate," said Hayley disinterestedly.

"Really?" I asked. "With Cassie too?"

"Yeah, and the vampire bitch. God, don't tell me you're already BFFs with Cassie." Hayley looked annoyed.

So our final roommate was a vampire. What a variety.

I stuck a fork into my lasagna. "Why?"

"Because she's annoying. As is the rest of her girl band. And their petty rivalry with Liv. I'm guessing you've met Liv? She likes to introduce herself to all the new witches like she's marking her territory and asserting her alpha-ness or something. How wolf-like."

"She's a witch, though," I said.

"Oh, yeah," said Hayley, "she's a _witch_ , alright."

I was sensing a whole lot of unnecessary witchy enmity in this stupid camp and I didn't want to be a part of it.

So I made a note to stay away from Cassie and Davina, and Liv.

I happened to glance past Hayley then, and accidentally made eye contact with someone.

 _Awkward._

I looked down quickly, picking at my salad.

But when I looked up, he was still staring at me.

He was incredibly attractive, with dark hair and blue eyes. But it was an evil kind of attractive, with the defined jawline and the dark, angled eyebrows, and the sinister lift of the edge of his lips.

It struck me that he was sitting alone at his picnic bench, and looking completely at ease with it. I mean, you'd expect someone sitting alone to be focused on their food, hiding behind a book, or plugged into some music.

He sat straight, with his chin held high, glancing away only to regard his surroundings with a conceited, imperial expression.

And then his eyes flickered abruptly back to mine.

I stifled a flinch and leaned in subtly to whisper to Tyler. "Ty. Who's that guy?"

Tyler glanced over extremely obviously. "The big guy over there?"

I poked him. "Be discreet! And no, the one in front of him. The skinny kid, sitting alone."

"Oh. _Oh_." He turned back to me almost gravely. "Kai."

"Kai who?" I asked.

"He's not actually that skinny, Bon. Wait till he stands up," Tyler prattled obliviously.

"Kai who?" I repeated.

"Nothing. Just Kai. Trust me, you don't want to call him anything else," said Tyler.

I didn't push him any further on that particular issue. "What is he?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tyler.

"You _know_ what I mean," I said, exasperated. "Witch, vampire, werewolf...?"

"Oh. I guess you could say he's a witch."

"What do you mean, you _guess_? He's either a witch or he's not!" I said.

Tyler shrugged.

Was I going to get _nothing_ from him? "What coven is he in?" I pressed.

"He's kind of... between covens right now."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Look, just forget about him, alright?" said Tyler.

I recognized his reluctance to pursue the topic any further, and decided to drop it for now.

It seemed there were a lot of shady characters lurking within the camp.

I looked back over to Kai discreetly.

He smirked handsomely at me, as if he'd been able to hear every word of my conversation with Tyler.

It creeped me out.

Then he stood up, taking his empty tray with him to clear it, and leaving the canteen.

Tyler was right. He wasn't that skinny.

* * *

I slunk back to my dorm house after lunch, turning down Tyler's offer to hang out with the wolves by the lake, and hoping I'd be able to avoid Cassie and the Davina-girls.

From what I'd gathered, the first week was mostly free and easy, with several icebreaker activities strewn here and there. Tonight, for example, was Bonfire Night, like I'd seen in the poster back at the general office.

 _Well_ , I thought grumpily, _at least I can't set fire on fire_.

I slipped into the room.

And came face-to-face with a girl.

She had long, wavy brown hair and an olive complexion. She looked a lot like Elena, back in Mystic Falls, except... more conniving.

"You have got to be kidding me," she protested.

"Excuse me?" I asked, startled.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She repeated.

Jeez. What was her deal?

"I just got transferred from the switch subdivision and they put me up with a human roommate?" She said.

Oh. This must have been the 'vampire bitch' Hayley had mentioned earlier.

"What's the switch subdivision?" I questioned curiously.

"The place where vampires who have turned off their humanity go." She turned around to saunter back to her bed, sitting on it and crossing her legs demurely. It was ironic.

"But you've turned it back on, right?" I asked nervously, staying where I was, right in front of the door. Just in case I needed to bolt.

"Bitch, please. I never turned it off in the first place. Katherine Pierce faces her problems head on."

I assumed that was her name.

She fanned herself with her hand. "I heard it's always hot during the day and freezing at night. How crappy does that sound?"

"But then why were you there? At the switch place," I pressed, ignoring her remark on the weather.

She rolled her eyes. "I think they thought I'd might as well have turned off my humanity, judging from the things I'd been doing."

I gulped. Great, just great. I was rooming with a raving lunatic. Who had the bloodlust of a humanity-less vampire.

"So, what are you in for?" She asked casually, like we were discussing music preferences.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"What. Are. You. In. For," she repeated, like I was stupid.

I scowled. "I'm not a criminal, you know."

"You must have done something," she replied.

"Well, what exactly did _you_ do?"

"I drained a couple of guys, no big deal." She waved her hand uncaringly.

"Why?"

She looked at me sharply then. "Because I trusted them, and they tried to rape me."

I sucked in a shallow breath, then walked over to her and sat next to her, not caring that I wasn't invited to. "Wow. I'm sorry."

It didn't make what she'd done right. But morality was a fine line sometimes.

She laughed shortly. "I'm over it. So what are you in for?"

I shrugged. "I set my best friend's boyfriend on fire."

"Nice," she whistled. "Is he dead?"

I shot her an incredulous frown. "I'm not trying to murder anyone. It was an accident. Besides, he's a vampire."

"Remind me to stay _far_ away from you in future, then," she drawled.

I laughed. "I'm Bonnie."

"Katherine," she replied.

"Yeah, I think I figured that one out."

* * *

Katherine was pretty cool, as it turned out – vicious, sharp-tongued and with questionable morals, but still pretty cool.

I felt like there was a chance we could be great friends.

We wandered around the camp together for the rest of the day, killing time until Bonfire Night.

And when Bonfire Night came around, we layered up with pullovers – because it really did get much colder at night – and set off for the massive fire-pit by the woods.

By the time we turned up, most people were either standing around avidly socializing, or settled upon chunky wooden logs near the roaring fire-pit, sipping idly from red cups.

"They serve alcohol?" I asked.

"You wish." Katherine snorted. "Freya, the blonde tweety-bird over there, she calls them Sober Sallies. God knows what she puts in them."

I got myself a cup and had a taste. "It's not so bad."

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of me not being drunk enough to tolerate this stupid camp," snipped Katherine.

I laughed. "Who's Freya, anyway?"

"One of the Mikaelsons. The eldest sibling. She's always in charge of the icebreakers."

We traced the edge of the party and sat on wooden logs by the sidelines, close to the fire-pit but far enough from everyone else. We weren't all too interested in making new friends.

"So what's the deal with this whole camp, then? Everywhere I go, I feel like people hate each other or something weird is going on," I said.

"This place is _beyond_ weird. And something creepy is definitely going on somewhere. But keep your head down and go about your days and you'll be out soon enough," replied Katherine.

"You don't seem the type who 'keeps her head down'."

"How do you think I got out of Switch? I faked it till I made it." She grinned and tossed back her hair. "Honestly, though? The Mikaelsons are a creepy, psycho, dysfunctional family that rivals even the Gemini," she murmured.

My ears perked at that. "The Gemini? What's so creepy about them?"

"Besides the merge?" She looked at me ludicrously.

"What _is_ the merge?"

"Um, Twin One eats Twin Two," she said.

"Wait, like _literally_?" I exclaimed.

"No, not literally. Look, I don't know much about witchy politics, alright? God knows enough of that goes on around here. All I know is that they pretty much have to merge and it involves them sucking each other's magical energy or something. One survives by sort of consuming the other. And then the other dies."

I was stunned. I hadn't seen that coming. "That's messed up."

"Yup. Even for me," she agreed.

"How many Gemini are here?" I asked.

"Like all of them," she said.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "No idea."

I thought about it curiously as I drained the rest of my drink.

"I'm going to get more punch," I said, standing up. "You want any?"

She snorted. "No. I'll save our seats."

I meandered over to where Freya was standing, proudly ladling out her Sober Sallies.

And then he stepped into my path so abruptly that I started with a shock.

Kai.

I thought he hadn't meant to intercept me, so I attempted to sidestep him, but he matched me, step for step, blocking any means of escape.

I looked up at him.

He smiled arrogantly, like he'd just achieved something. "Hi, my name is Kai."

"Bonnie," I replied, crossing my arms and lifting my eyebrows.

I had a feeling he was up to no good.

"Bonnie _Bennett_ ," he drawled, checking me out unsubtly. "It's an honour."

I frowned. "I don't know, is it?"

He chuckled, and seemed about to say something, until someone tugged me aside violently.

"Gotta go, bye!" Cassie called to Kai in an unnaturally high-pitched voice as she dragged me away.

"Cassie," I gasped, pulling my arm away once Kai was out of sight. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She turned on me nearly hysterically. "What's wrong is that witches do _not_ associate with Kai Parker."

So his last name was Parker.

"Well, why not?" I asked, utterly baffled.

"Because it's dangerous," she hissed in a low tone, looking around nervously.

I sighed exasperatedly, knowing she wouldn't tell me anything further. "Alright, alright."

She drew back then, looking slightly relieved. "Ok." She nodded.

"I'm gonna go, ok?" I said.

She nodded again, and let me slip away from her.

I paced determinedly back to Katherine, with no drink in hand.

"Sober Sally not doing it for you anymore?" Katherine asked.

"I want to know about Kai Parker," I said.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "He's Gemini. Or he was, anyway. There's some abracadabra politics going on there. I don't know about that. But I do know he's the eldest Gemini son. And he's a twin. So he's rightfully due to merge in a few years."

"But why is everyone so against him?" I probed.

"It's not so much everyone else as it is the witches," Katherine replied. "He has... a magical curse. Or gift. Depends on how you see it."

"Which is...?"

"He doesn't have his own magic, but he can siphon it from other witches," she said.

My jaw dropped. I'd never heard of such a thing before. "How is that possible?" I breathed.

She shrugged. "Beats me. They call him a freak of nature."

I didn't ask her any more questions after that.

The rest of the party was comparatively uneventful.

I spoke to Tyler and his crew for a little while, and met a few other vampires, while managing to avoid both Cassie and Kai all through the night.

Katherine left early, while I was talking to Tyler, and so, around midnight, I began the long trek back to my dorm house alone.

I was eyeing the crescent moon as I strolled under it, lost in my thoughts, when someone closed a hand over my mouth, wrapped an arm around my midriff, and yanked me just behind the walls of the canteen.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews, everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter. Lots of Kai in it. Love you all xoxoxoxo**

 **Le1anaberr1e – Cassie is from The Originals. :) All the characters are only within TVD/TO! :) xxxxx**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Kai twisted me around and pressed me up against the wall, tightly but not painfully.

Somehow I hadn't expected that anyone else would have pulled such a trick.

His hand was still over my mouth.

"Surprise," he sang gleefully.

I clawed at him until he released me.

"Ouch. Don't scream," he begged, raising his hands in surrender and stepping back slightly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not going to scream, you idiot," I snapped. "And the only thing I'd be scared of is your stupid face. What the hell is your problem?"

He pouted. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"And you couldn't have done that without ambushing me?"

"Not unless I wanted to draw the attention of your Number One Fangirl," he muttered in mild irritation.

"Who?" I asked.

" _Cassie_ ," he whined.

I shot him an incredulous look. "It's the middle of the night. She's not exactly the stalking type."

"Wanna bet?" He asked, nodding his head to the right.

I followed his gaze, and peeked around the corner.

Cassie was standing where I'd been just seconds earlier, looking around in confusion.

I ducked back behind the wall. "Oh my God. Is she _stalking_ me?"

"I know," he exclaimed, delighted. "Creepy, isn't it?"

"You're stalking me, too," I pointed out.

He sulked. "I'm not. I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"You. Me. _Magic_." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

I stared at him, unimpressed. "And?"

He glanced around us. "Well, not now. And most certainly not here."

"Then when?"

"Tomorrow. In the morning. Do you know where Oscar's Seat is?"

"Never heard of it," I quipped without hesitation.

"Great. I'll see you there," he chirped, and then he sauntered off.

"What? Wait. _Kai_!" I hissed after him.

But he'd disappeared by then.

Almost entirely into thin air.

I scowled into the dark, empty night, before heading back to my dorm house.

Cassie was waiting for me when I got back, sitting up on her bed. "Where'd you go, Bonnie?" She asked.

I paused on the loft landing, squinting at her dubiously in the dark. "Bonfire Night?" I said, being intentionally oblivious.

"But I thought you left before I did," she replied.

"I got lost," I said, pulling off my shoes and climbing into bed.

"But it's a pretty straight path," said Cassie persistently.

"It was dark," I muttered, getting annoyed.

"But-"

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Katherine snapped from her bed on the level below.

"I was just-" Cassie began.

"Before I come up there and rip out your vocal chords," Katherine threatened.

"That's not very-"

"You better hope that non-verbal magic is a thing," growled Katherine.

The sound of her cracking her knuckles echoed throughout the room.

Cassie shut up immediately.

 _Bless you, Katherine_ , I thought.

As I lay back in bed, I whispered a 'thank you' as softly as I could, knowing that Katherine would hear me.

* * *

I rose a little after the crack of dawn the next morning, grabbing my backpack and sneaking out before Cassie could wake up.

I noticed, on my way out, that Katherine's bed was vacant, and so was Hayley's.

As it turned out, I met Hayley a few steps out of the dorm house, trudging up the stairs with a cranky expression on her face and the same clothes she'd been wearing last night.

 _Walk of Shame?_ I thought immediately. Had she not been in at all last night?

She paused to stare at me nastily, as if she were daring me to say something.

I shrugged. What did I care? "Hey," I said casually.

"Hey," she replied slowly.

I took a step past her, but then paused and spun around. "Hayley. Do you know where Oscar's Seat is?" I asked.

"How do you expect to get all the way up there?" She questioned doubtfully, and then stopped herself. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. If you head to the fire-pit from last night, and enter the woods, there's a Rainforest Trail that you take to the very end. You can figure it out from there."

I nodded my thanks, then made a beeline for the canteen to get some morning nosh before figuring out Oscar's Seat.

Someone fell into step with me as I passed the central court.

"Kat!" I said, with a wide grin.

"Keep it in your pants," she grumbled.

"Not a morning person?"

"Not when I'm forced to wake up early just to get the tiniest blood ration in the history of ever," she replied.

"They control how much blood you get?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yeah."

"I guess that sucks," I said, feeling divided on the matter. "I'd offer, but... that would be weird."

She snorted. "And also poisonous."

"Poisonous?"

"Everyone except the vampires gets a healthy dose of vervain added to their food and drink. To prevent... accidents."

I grimaced, feeling mildly disturbed at the possibility that they could add a whole host of kooky ingredients to our food and we'd all be none the wiser. "Wow. They really cover all their bases, don't they?"

"Are you surprised?" She asked.

We joined the breakfast line in the canteen.

I grabbed a tray for myself.

Oatmeal. _Yuck_.

"I'll have the vampire deluxe, please," Katherine remarked sarcastically.

I bit back a laugh as the disgruntled lunch-lady handed her a bowl.

We found a picnic bench to settle into.

"So what was last night about?" Katherine asked around a mouthful of food.

I scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal and let it slide back into the bowl like the goopy, gunky mess that it was. "Cassie's stalking me."

"Tiny terror, that one," said Katherine. "Do you know why?"

"Various reasons, I'm assuming. She wants me to join her clique, for one. And she doesn't want me to associate with Kai Parker. Or Liv." I stuck a glob of oatmeal into my mouth reluctantly and chewed.

 _Hmm. Could be worse._

"Well, obviously. The Harvest bitches hate the Gemini. Something about power play. Don't know what they want with you, though. They leave most newbie witches alone."

Oh right. I'd forgotten that Kai and Liv were technically in the same coven.

And I was pretty sure being a Bennett witch had something – or everything – to do with why Cassie wanted me to join her little sorority so badly. I hadn't had the chance to crack out Grams' grimoire yet, to have a looksee and make a guess as to why.

"Do Liv and Kai ever hang out with each other?" I asked.

"Not exactly. The whole family is kind of divided," said Katherine.

"They're related?" I asked, surprised.

"What did you think? They're siblings. There are like fifty of them. I could have one for lunch everyday until summer ends."

"They don't look alike, though," I said, thinking of Liv's wild, golden locks and dark eyes as compared to Kai's neat, dark hair and blue eyes.

"Do they have to?" She asked.

I stuck another spoon of oatgunk into my mouth. "You said there were other newbie witches – witches that aren't in with either Liv or Davina?"

"Just a couple here and there," she said.

"Can I tell you something?" I asked as Katherine scraped the bottom of her bowl.

She shrugged.

I pushed aside my unfinished breakfast. "Kai asked me to meet him today. He said he wanted to talk to me."

"Is that why you were late last night? You were getting it on with the devil's prodigy?"

I offered her a prolonged snort. "Far from it. Do you think I should go?"

"Hell yeah," she said. "Fuck the police."

"What police?" I asked, amused.

"The popularity hierarchy," she explained. "According to Her Royal Highness Davina, it goes: Harvest bitches, other random witches, vampires, Gemini weirdos, werewolves, then Kai. _I_ say that if Davina hates Kai that much, there's gotta be something awesome about him."

"Not a fan of Davina?" I asked.

"Doesn't take a genius to see that she's a Grade A snob. I think she _genuinely_ thinks she's going to rule the world someday."

We cleared our trays and make our way out of the canteen, stopping at the entranceway.

"Off to mate with the antichrist?" Katherine asked me with a sneaky grin.

I rolled my eyes. "I think you _love_ the fact that he might be evil."

"Duh," she said. "I hope he burns this whole goddamn camp to the ground."

I didn't mention to her that if anything were to burn to the ground, it would most likely happen at my hands.

* * *

I was examining the faded sign at the three-way junction just inside the woods when Kai snuck up on me again.

He tapped me on the shoulder and I whipped around, fists raised in self-defense.

He burst into loud, uproarious laughter.

I stood impatiently, arms crossed and tapping my feet, while waiting for him to get over it. "Are you done?"

He gasped for air greedily, wiping tears from his eyes. "You feel threatened and the first thing you do is prepare for body combat? Besides the fact that you're _tiny_ , what kind of a witch are you?"

 _A terrible one who can't control her own magic_ , I thought miserably to myself. I felt hurt, but I covered it up with a glare. "If you're going to be an asshole, then I'm leaving."

I shoved past him and began to storm off.

He grabbed my elbow. "Wait, alright, I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, still smiling. "I'll play nice, I promise."

I turned around and frowned at him, but made no move to leave again.

We stared at each other for a while – or rather, he stared at me. He had the tiniest smile plastered onto his face as he looked at me, unspeaking.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, I glanced away and back at him several times before snapping, "Well? Are we going to go to this Oscar's Seat place or are you going to stand there and stare at me all day?"

He beamed at me. "Soon. But first, I want you to use your magic."

My eyes narrowed. "What?"

He reached over to grab my wrist – I started mildly – and he dragged me over to stand behind a tree.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He dropped his backpack on the ground and motioned for me to do the same.

I slid my backpack off my shoulders while watching him warily.

"Awesome. Now cast a spell on me, Bonnie." He came to stand in front of me, and winked at me suggestively.

I scowled, backing away a little. "What do you mean?"

"Do magic, you little witch."

" _What_ magic?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Anything. Just do something," said Kai.

I frowned. "I don't know."

"Why don't you know?" He probed.

"I just don't know, alright?" I said.

"What's the first spell that comes to mind?"

I flinched. _Phasmatos Incendia._ It was pretty much the only spell I was really aware of. And I still couldn't master even that.

"Bonnie?" He asked.

"I don't know!" I exclaimed.

"Come on," he pushed further. "Just wiggle your fingers and say something random."

"I can't," I said, wrapping my arms around myself defensively, and taking a step back. I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

"You can't or you won't? You didn't even try," he spoke a little gentler this time.

"I just can't, alright?" I shook my head.

"Why not?"

Ugh! It was _impossible_ to get him to drop the subject!

"Because if I try, then... I'll probably set you on fire or something," I admitted reluctantly.

"You won't," he said mulishly.

"I will."

"No, you won't," he insisted.

" _Yes I will!_ "

"For the love of – just _try_ , Bonnie," Kai demanded, rolling his eyes.

I levelled him with an intense glower. "Fine. You asked for it."

He watched in amusement as I gathered up a bunch of dry twigs and leaves and made a pile of out them.

Then I took a deep breath, raised my hand at the pile, squeezed shut my eyes and chanted, " _Phasmatos incendia_."

I opened my eyes.

Nothing had happened.

I closed my eyes and said it again, louder this time. " _Phasmatos incendia_."

I popped open an eye.

The pile was still unmoved and unlit.

And nothing else had caught fire either.

"I can't... I can't use magic!" I breathed, meaning it in a completely different way this time.

Kai grinned at me, smug and triumphant. " _Now_ you can't."

My first instinct was to throttle him.

But I held myself back.

"You stole my magic!" I hissed venomously.

He laughed shortly. "Word travels fast, I see."

I realized that I'd accidentally revealed what Katherine had told me – which basically meant that I'd been listening in on the gossip around me. "I – don't you dare turn this on me! You stole my magic, Kai! Now give it back so I can _really_ set you on fire."

He shook his head. "Trust me, Bonnie, when I siphon your magic, you'll know."

" _When_ you siphon it?" I demanded.

"I'm going to have to show you eventually," he said with a smirk.

He took a measured step forward and I took two back.

"If you didn't steal it, then where did it go?" I asked.

"There's a nullifyer in place," he replied.

"A nullifyer?"

"It's a boundary spell that nullifies all magic use within its parameters."

I was appalled. "But why is that even necessary?"

"We're at a camp for juvenile delinquents, Bonnie. And we outnumber the facilitators. This is their way of keeping us in check," said Kai.

"But why just target the witches? What about the vampires and werewolves?"

"The spell weakens supernatural abilities in general. So besides getting their blood rationed, vamps can't do stuff like work their superspeed. And a wolf's physical strength depletes drastically if he flies into a rage," he replied.

"But isn't that kind of helpful for them?" I asked, considering the benefits of the spell. "They get to practice self-control without being a threat to other people."

"Arguable." Kai shrugged. "Maybe it's beneficial if you intend on living in a bubble for the rest of your life."

"But they get to _practice_ ," I repeated, "for when they go back out into the real world."

Kai's jaw tightened visibly, and I could tell I'd made him at least a little angry. "I don't know about you, Bonnie," he said, "but I don't think getting rid of the potential consequences helps anybody. I think people are less likely to temper themselves and learn from their mistakes if they aren't given the chance to make mistakes in the first place."

I stared at a spot on the ground quietly. I didn't know what to think. He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't entirely right either.

"And even if it were helpful to the vamps and wolves, it does absolutely nothing for the witches," he continued. "Why should we have to lose our use of magic?"

I didn't look up. He was right there. Except, maybe... maybe taking my frightfully uncontrollable magic away from me was a good thing.

"Maybe it's good for me, to have my magic nullified," I muttered.

"Why's that?" He questioned curiously.

"It's just safer. I can't control it. Sometimes it's like a curse. So maybe it's best for everyone if it's gone for good."

My face heated up. I couldn't believe I was telling him this.

"You don't mean that," said Kai.

"How can you know?" I scuffed my shoe into the ground dejectedly.

There was a crackling noise – of leaves and twigs – and when I looked up, Kai was walking right at me.

I attempted to back up a few more steps – until I collided with a tree.

 _Crap._

Kai came to a halt a hair's breadth from me, giving me an intense look that seemed to penetrate the frightened recesses of my mind. "Because if that's what you really want, then maybe I can siphon all your magic from you right now," he said in a low voice, nearly a whisper. "Just because the nullifyer doesn't let you _use_ it, doesn't mean it isn't there for me to take."

My voice caught in my throat. I found myself unable to reply, and unable to even tear my eyes from him. His irises seemed to shimmer and swirl, a whirlpool of midnight and cobalt, electrifyingly hypnotic.

Was he already starting to siphon my magic? Had he begun to cast a spell on me?

"No!" I cried, jerking my head away, eyes shut tightly, hands balled into useless fists by my sides.

A moment of silence passed between us. Even the birds seemed to stop chirping, and the wind had stilled.

I felt him step away from me, and only then did I look back at him.

He was wearing a strange smile on his face – it looked almost bittersweet. "See? You do want your magic. You're just afraid to use it."

His eyes drifted and his head tilted to the side as we heard the camp trumpet playing in the background, calling us to assemble. " _Aww_ ," he said, returning to his usual, smug self. "Camp Suck beckons."

I didn't say a word as he walked back to the tree across from me, and picked up his backpack. He picked mine up as well, and offered it to me.

I stayed where I was.

He rattled the bag slightly, raising his eyebrows at me. "Hello? Earth to Bon Bon? Come in, Bon Bon?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, approaching him cautiously and accepting my backpack from him. "Thanks," I muttered.

He began trekking back out of the woods, and I followed behind him quietly.

I considered what he'd said – and how he'd been able to read me so easily. He was right. The truth was that I loved my magic. I loved it to the moon and back. I just didn't know how to use it and the thought of that terrified me. I was too scared to use my own magic.

But how would I ever overcome that?

Almost as if he'd read my mind once again, Kai paused and turned back to look at me. "Don't look so down, Bonnie," he called out charmingly.

I stalked right past him. "Shut up, weirdo."

He laughed, and rushed to catch up with me, swinging an arm around my neck jovially. "I'm going to teach you how to use your magic!" He declared.

I elbowed him away harshly. "You'll _what_ now?"

He rubbed his ribs sulkily. "I'm going to teach you how to use your magic."

"And how do you expect to achieve that?"

"Lesson 1: a magician never reveals his secrets," said Kai with dramatic flourish.

We arrived at the fire-pit, then strode past it, on our way to the central court.

"What's in it for you?" I asked, side-eyeing him distrustfully.

"Just the pleasure of your company," he replied with a wink.

That was obviously a lie.

But a part of me – and I couldn't deny just how large that part was – really wanted to see how he'd try to _teach_ me to control my magic. And an even bigger part of me, I didn't want to admit, was hoping that he'd actually be successful. That _I'd_ be successful.

"Fine," I replied.

We were past the canteen now, joining the very back of the crowd of people ambling towards the central court.

I noticed a few curious glances being thrown our way.

"Sweet." He beamed at me.

I was struck briefly by how handsome he looked, with his wind-tussled hair, the sunlight highlighting the definition of his jawline and cheekbones, playing across his rosy cheeks and bringing out the blue in his eyes.

"I'm done talking to you now," I snapped, feeling momentarily ashamed of where my thoughts had drifted.

"I'll find you, Bonnie!" He called out to me cheerily as I stormed away.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi guys, thanks for the lovely reviews and messages you've been sending my way. I want to let you know that I most certainly have not abandoned either of my stories. June to August is just a really busy period for me this year so I won't be able to update much! I hope this chapter tides you over for now. I'm sorry it's a little rushed so it's not too great! Hope you enjoy it anyway xxx :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

" _Attention, campers. Please gather together with your respective cabin-mates."_

Searching for Katherine, or even Hayley, I forced my way through the throng of campers swarming the central court. It was hard, considering how I was shorter than most of the people around me.

"Ditched your boyfriend so soon?"

I turned around to discover that Katherine had appeared behind me. "Hey," I said, relieved. "How did you even find me? There's got to be like a thousand people here."

"Less than 200, actually," said Katherine. "Though it's nearly twice the turnout they usually get."

I frowned contemplatively at that. "Double trouble this year?"

She shrugged.

" _There are placards located at the front of the court to indicate your cabins. Find them and assemble behind them."_

"Placards? Does our cabin have a name or something?" I asked.

"It's kind of like a stupid address," she replied. "There's a number and a street name. Haven't you noticed the tatty old sign at the end of the road?"

"No," I confessed. "What's our address, then?"

She grimaced heavily. "Number 5, Periwinkle Street."

I choked on a dry laugh. "A part of me wants to cry."

"I _did_ cry."

We were the first to find our placard.

Hayley strode up behind us a minute later, trademark scowl fixed in place, followed by Cassie, who hung back tentatively.

I felt a little bad for her.

"They're gonna do the lame grouping thing again," muttered Hayley.

"The what?" I asked.

" _Quiet, please."_

We looked towards the stage. There were a bunch of camp facilitators lined up on it, and I assumed either that they were the Mikaelsons or that they were somehow affiliated with the Mikaelsons.

One of them – with bronze hair and an unsmiling face, I noted – held a megaphone in his hand. "As per camp tradition, we have yet to introduce you to the camp staff and your facilitators for the summer..." He began to say.

"Let me break it down for you," Katherine lowered her voice to speak to me.

I glanced between her and the people she pointed out.

Tall, Bronze Hair and Unsmiling. "Klaus. Partial to suck-ups. Probably wants an army of faithful minions to cater to his every need."

Blonde. "You remember Freya. She's kind of irrelevant."

Blonder. "Rebekah. Hates her life, hates herself."

Frankenvamp and Bride of Frankenvamp. "Esther and Mikael. AKA Mommy and Daddy Mikaelson. Weird vibes galore."

Broody with a pinched face. "Finn. Mommy's boy."

Handsome with a devilish smile and, apparently, numerous winks to spare for the girls in the crowd. "Kol. Likes to piss people off."

A tailored suit in the heat of summer? "Elijah. Control freak... but hot as hell."

I shot her a bemused look.

"What?" She said innocently.

I shook my head with a tiny grin. "What about those people standing behind them?"

"They're just the rest of the staff. They do lessons, mostly."

"Lessons?" I asked.

"Did you think this camp was all fun and games?" She said wryly. "They divide us into our supernatural categories and teach us the ABCs of being good little demon spawns."

"Yeah, and it's fucking lame," Hayley cut into our conversation. "Now shut up. Klaus is looking over here."

We snapped our mouths shut when we noticed Klaus had paused temporarily in his speech to glare in our direction.

 _Yikes_ , I thought. _He seems like the kind of person no one would dare to cross._

"You will be divided into four teams. The team with the most points will be declared the winner at the end of the camp. Each team will also have _non-competitive_ sub-teams. I'll let your team leaders give you further directions," Klaus continued.

"Sounds complicated," I murmured to Katherine. "How do they group us? Is it random?"

"Each team gets a girls-only street and a guys-only street thrown together," she replied. "They do it by colour."

"By colour?" I asked incredulously.

Our conversation was once again interrupted by an announcement.

" _Sunflower Street and Daffodil Street to the back-right. Periwinkle and Lavender to the back-left. Rose and Poppy to the front-right. Lily and Jasmine to the front-left."_

I bit the inside of my cheeks to stop from laughing. "I thought this was juvenile detention, not a slumber party," I said. "And the boys got Lavender Street instead of Periwinkle?"

"What's the difference? They're both girly," grumbled Katherine.

There was minor chaotic upheaval as we were redirected to various parts of the central court.

The devilishly handsome Mikaelson son awaited us the back left-hand corner of the court.

"Ugh, great," groused Katherine.

"What?" I asked.

"We got _Kol_. He does basically nothing to help anyone. We're going to end up in last place," she said, annoyed.

"Does it even matter?" Hayley muttered from behind us. "Whichever team Klaus picks wins every year anyway."

We looked over in the direction of the other teams to see where Klaus had ended up.

Rose and Poppy.

"They look thrilled," I perceived.

"Duh," said Hayley.

I took a moment to observe the other miserable faces on our team, only to jerk my head back to Katherine when I heard her groan for the second time.

"What now?" I asked, unnerved.

"We got the Gemini coven too," she snapped. "Just fucking great."

Hayley erupted into low curses behind us. "We're not even going to be in last place now. We'll probably get disqualified and then punished within the next week."

I thought of Liv and Kai, with uneasiness gripping my shoulders. "The entire coven is in our team? Don't they get split up?"

"No way," said Katherine. "They learned the hard way not to do that."

"The hard way?" I asked.

She didn't get a chance to reply because Kol had starting speaking.

"Hello, dolls, gather round," he called out theatrically.

We moved to huddle in closer around him.

I ended up next to a dark-haired boy with mildly elfin features.

"It's like he's incapable of acknowledging that males attend this camp, too," he grumbled to the blonde boy next to him.

"Jealous, Orion?" The blonde boy retorted.

"Stop projecting, _Lucas_ ," Orion snapped.

I glanced away in amusement, not interested in eavesdropping any further.

"This is where I divide you into subgroups. Klaus wants me to emphasize that these subgroups are _not competitive_. All points accumulated in camp activities still go towards your team on the whole. Subgroups just provide a more... _intimate_ team-bonding experience for you." Kol winked at the crowd.

"I'd like to gouge out that eye," Orion spoke through gnashed teeth.

"You and me both, buddy." Katherine leaned over me to thump Orion on the shoulder.

He looked slightly startled.

"I'd like to see the Gemini up here, please. Everyone else, number yourselves from one to four within your cabins," said Kol.

I wondered what he wanted with the Gemini coven.

To my surprise, both the blonde-haired and dark-haired boys next to me disentangled themselves from the crowd to go see Kol.

"They're Gemini?" I asked, turning around to face my cabin crew.

Cassie had slinked in to stand beside us sometime during Kol's speech. "Yeah, they are," she replied cautiously. "Luke, the blonde one, is Liv's twin."

Whoa.

"Alright," said Katherine. "I'm obviously number one."

"Two," said Hayley.

"...Three?" I asked.

"Four," Cassie said.

I looked back to the where Kol was speaking to the disgruntled Gemini coven. I could see Kai, Orion, Liv, Luke and Jo. There were also two other dark-haired girls and a blonde boy.

"Just how many of them are there?" I said.

"Far too many if you ask me," Katherine said with a sigh.

"Who are those three?" I probed, pointing discreetly to the remaining siblings I'd yet to encounter.

Cassie took that as an invitation to squeeze herself between Katherine and me. "That's Joseph. He just graduated high school. Lilith, with the hair that's curly like Liv's, she's a year older than him. And Morgana, with hair like Jo, she's going to be a senior next year, same as you. Morgana's really good friends with Liv. She's not very nice either. You shouldn't talk to her-"

"Alright, Gossip Ghoul," Katherine interjected, physically pulling Cassie away from me. "I think that's enough rumour-spreading for today."

I felt more confused than ever.

We ended up getting allocated into subgroups based on our numbers.

"Bye," I said to Katherine reluctantly.

She nodded, turning around, but then immediately turned back to me. "Switch with me."

"What?" I asked, baffled.

"Just do it," she insisted. "You take one and I'll take three."

"Why?"

"Trust me," she replied.

I didn't really have a reason not to.

"Alright...?" I agreed carelessly.

We switched places and walked in opposite directions.

When I heard Katherine cackling from far behind me, I realized I'd made a mistake.

* * *

My subgroup consisted of a bitchy vampire; an irrelevant werewolf; a trio of stoned, hippy witches who demanded that they be referred to as 'The Travellers'; Davina Claire; a minion of Davina Claire; Liv and Kai.

They spent the majority of the 'Getting To Know Your Group' session arguing and talking over one another.

I was ready to rip Katherine's fangs out and shove them down her backstabbing throat.

Kol had wandered over sometime during the dispute, and seemed to be at a loss for words. "We usually name our teams by the colour of their flowers," he had said. "There's red, white, yellow, and this team is always blue."

"That's not cool, brah," Traveller #1 had said. "I think we should have cooler names."

"This is stupid," said Liv. "What does it matter what goddamn name we choose?"

"Well, sissy dearest, lavender _is_ technically purple and not blue," replied Kai with cheek.

He was obviously just trying to get a rise out of Liv and everyone else in the group – and it was working.

"That's right," piped Traveller #2. "Equality, dude. I think we need to give purple a chance, too."

"For fuck's sake," growled Liv.

"Language, Livvy-poo," sang Kai.

"Shut the fuck up, Kai. I'll say whatever the hell I want to say!" Liv hissed.

"I'm outnumbered by brainless witches," whined Bitchy Vampire.

"I'm the only one of my kind here, too," said Irrelevant Werewolf. "My name is Aiden, what's yours?"

"Not interested," Bitchy Vampire blew him off.

"I wasn't hitting on you," said Aiden defensively.

"Hi, Bonnie." Davina slid over to me stealthily. "I'm Davina and this is Monique. We're Harvest girls. I'm sure Cassie told you about us?"

"Brah, I'm just saying, purple doesn't get the recognition it deserves." Traveller #1 said.

"Bonnie?" said Davina. "Did you hear me? I'm so glad we're in the same team. I can't wait to get to know you better!"

"No, I totally agree," said Traveller #3. "But blue is a _primary colour_ , you know?"

"Kai! Would you fucking stop it?" Liv yelled.

"Stop what?" Kai asked innocently.

"Stop pulling my hair! I know it's you!" Liv screamed.

"You're not a very nice person," said Aiden to Bitchy Vampire.

"Boohoo, cry me a river," she bit in return.

"But purple is a beautiful combination of blue and red, so purple also _encompasses_ blue. It's the perfect choice," said Traveller #2.

"We're going to be such great friends, I can tell." Monique was talking to me now. "Maybe today you can sit with us at lunch?"

"Yes, but red is in purple. That denotes a kind of allegiance to the red team. It wouldn't make sense," said Traveller #3.

"Can I please transfer out of this stupid group?" Bitchy Vampire snapped.

"I'm afraid that's not allowed," said Klaus, appearing behind Kol.

Everyone shut up immediately.

I glanced around at them.

Most people seemed to look at least mildly intimidated. Kai, however, looked unexplainably enraged.

I couldn't imagine why. Honestly, I was relieved that Klaus had interrupted us.

"Is there a problem here?" Klaus asked menacingly.

Everyone except Kai shook their heads rapidly to say 'no'.

"Let's keep it that way," warned Klaus, before returning to his team.

All campers were dismissed for lunch five minutes later.

* * *

In my haste to get as far away from the central court as possible, I sprinted off in the direction opposite to the canteen, hurrying along behind the gigantic obstacle course. As I circled around it and came back towards the general office, I ran into none other than Orion and Luke.

We both made to move left, then right, and then paused awkwardly.

"You were standing by us earlier," Orion said, looking at me more closely.

I realized I'd only seen his side profile earlier; but now that I was looking at him from the front, I noticed that there were striking similarities between him and Kai. In fact, he looked more like Kai than Jo did, arguably because Orion and Kai were of the same gender.

"Aren't you heading to lunch?" Luke asked.

"Aren't _you_?" I replied.

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Touché."

Orion glanced at Luke, and then back at me. "I'm sorry you were put into a group with Liv and Kai," he told me.

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

"There's probably no one Liv hates more than Kai," said Luke. "Except for Jo, that is. She's Kai's twin."

I wondered what it was about Jo that Liv hated so much.

"And Kai isn't exactly very fond of Liv, either," said Orion. "He loves getting a rise out of her."

"Which is hilarious because they're both a lot more alike than they think." Luke shook his head.

I groaned. "This is going to be the longest summer ever."

"You're right about that," said Orion.

There was an awkward pause.

"I'm Bonnie," I offered.

"Ryan," said Orion.

"But you can call him Orion," Luke said with a grin.

" _No_ ," snapped Orion, "I'm Orion, but you can call me Ryan."

"Nobody does, though," said Luke.

"Hey-" Orion griped.

"I'm Lucas," said Luke, cutting him off, "but people actually call me Luke."

Orion sighed heavily.

I looked between the two of them in mild amusement.

"We should get going." Luke nudged Orion. "See you around, Bennett."

They moved to walk past me.

"It's _Bonnie_ ," I hissed after them, annoyed.

Luke lifted a hand to wave it at me carelessly, without looking back.

I watched them disappear around the corner.

* * *

Skipping lunch was probably a bad idea, but I did it anyway, holing myself up in my cabin and flipping through Gran's grimoire.

The pages were yellowed and frayed with age, and the handwriting was black, blotted and scribbly. They slanted over the pages, weaving around strange diagrams and drawings.

I didn't know where to even begin.

I tried reading it chronologically at first, but most of the first few chapters had been written in Latin and I couldn't understand any of it. There appeared to be all sorts of spells ranging from simple ones like 'how to bring a withered plant back to life' to creepier, more complex ones like 'how to tickle the undead' – whatever _that_ meant.

But what disappointed me was that there appeared to be no proper instructions of any sort. I'd been hoping to glean some kind of help from the grimoire – help with controlling my magic. But I had no such luck. There were only pages and pages of spells and I didn't exactly feel like practicing my magic by trying out spells that would likely backfire on me and burn the entire camp down.

The door to the cabin banged open, startling me out of my thoughts. I shoved the grimoire under my pillow hastily.

"You missed lunch," Katherine sang from the bottom of the stairs. "Busy sulking? I brought you a sandwich." She tossed it up at me.

I caught it as it came flying towards my face. "Thanks, but I wasn't sulking. And you still suck," I said, peering over the banister.

"Duh, I'm a vampire," she replied snootily. "You should be more appreciative. The lunch-ho kept giving me these distrustful looks for asking for a vervain-ed sandwich. I was like, 'What, bitch? Does it look like _I'm_ going to be eating it?' For fuck's sake."

"You threw me under the bus!" I exclaimed. "You didn't want to be stuck with Liv and Kai in your group."

"In my defence," said Katherine, "who _does_? Besides, I gave you free entertainment for the rest of camp. And your group is likely to get disqualified soon because of them, so you don't have to worry about all the annoying happy camper activities they've got planned. You're welcome."

I rolled my eyes and moved over on my bed to make room for her after she'd ascended the stairs. "Easy for you to say. You didn't have to listen to the _Travellers_ having the world's most irrelevant discussion on whether the team colour should be purple or blue."

"A seed no doubt planted by Kai," she replied.

"How'd you guess?" I asked.

"Kai _loves_ manipulating those hippies. And they're too obtuse to know it."

"Great," I sighed. "And I guess it conveniently escaped your attention that Davina's in this group, too?"

"That, I genuinely did not realize," Katherine replied, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "I feel kind of sorry for you, now."

I snorted. "Damn straight. I was hoping I'd be able to avoid her all camp."

"Fat hope," said Katherine. "But a girl can dream."

"I guess I'll find out what she wants from me soon enough."

"You're a Bennett," said Katherine, leaning back on her elbows. "She wants you on her side."

"I didn't realize there _were_ sides. Where's the fight?" I asked.

"This whole damn camp is one big struggle."

I nodded miserably.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"Which Gemini siblings did you get, anyway?" I asked, after a while.

"Orion and Jo. Always did like them the most out of all those whack jobs."

"Lucky." I scoffed. "So what's on the camp schedule for the rest of today?"

"Free and easy," said Katherine.

"Thank God." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't ease up just yet. Tomorrow, we've got a nice, long day of team-bonding exercises."

I huffed in annoyance. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"This blows!" I exclaimed.

"You got that right."

I frowned as I collapsed back onto my bed. I was not looking forward to seeing my group-mates _ever again_ , let alone tomorrow.


End file.
